Bianca Chapter 2
The chilly night air felt good on my face.
I felt like I was burning up. I knew it had to be due to whatever was in my system.
The heat combined with the dizziness, nausea, and growing inability to think straight was alarming.
I was so thankful I’d realized what was happening and made it to the bathroom in time.
What if I hadn’t? The thought of what the outcome could’ve been made me shiver.
I wasn’t thrilled to be going to my cousin’s MC’s compound for the first time like this. Or that I’d met a few of his club brothers and would meet more under such circumstances.
Rawley, I mean, Mishap, had kept me separate from his life while he prospected for the Pagan Souls.
It hadn’t been hard. I’d been living in Augusta until six months ago.
His urging that I move closer had gotten me here.
I’d given in to his repeated arguments about why it was best. The truth was, I missed him, and I needed someone I loved close after what I’d been through in the past year.
I hadn’t known what to think when Mishap announced he planned to join the Pagan Souls’ motorcycle club.
All that raced through my mind were the images from the shows and movies about outlaw motorcycle clubs I’d watched.
I asked him if the Pagans were like that.
He laughed and told me to stop watching so much television.
However, I hadn’t been able to be in North Carolina then, during his time as a prospect.
The couple of times I visited were brief, and we spent our time together away from the club.
He wanted nothing to break his concentration on achieving his goal.
After he got his cut and road name, which I teased him was totally appropriate, he’d been busy settling in as a full member.
But despite that, he had kept in touch via phone calls and video.
If it hadn’t been for him, I would’ve lost my mind.
Well, he and Mom, though she was much further away.
Mom lived in Washington State with my stepdad, Harvey.
They married ten years ago, when I was twenty-one.
Mom had been without my dad, Wells, for ten years. He’d died in an accident on the job.
I was happy for her, and Harvey treated her like a queen.
She deserved happiness after the grief of losing Dad and the way she had to fight to take care of us.
The only thing I disliked about their marriage was that they had to live so far away, but Harvey’s business was located there.
Until he retired for good, that was where they would stay.
I hoped they’d be able to visit more often after he retired.
All three of them had been what helped me through my messy divorce from my then-husband, Byron.
It had taken me six months to get my divorce, which required me to stay in Augusta until it was resolved.
As soon as the ink was dry on the official decree, I packed my stuff and moved.
It had taken a lot of talking to prevent Mishap from beating Byron to death.
I often had to remind my cousin that Byron wasn’t worth going to jail for.
What I didn’t tell him was that some days I had to fight the urge not to pulverize the bastard.
What he did not only killed what was left of my feelings for him but also damaged my self-worth.
I was working to regain it. I refused to allow that prick to win.
The ride seemed to take a while, but I gritted my teeth to hold onto my stomach, balance, and consciousness through sheer grit.
I did sigh with relief when I saw the huge, twelve-foot steel walls topped with razor wire surrounding their compound, as my cousin called it.
The gate was opening. I wondered who had the strength to do it.
As we rode through the opening, I figured a motorized system had probably done it, since no one was there.
We didn’t stop. The guys kept riding until they stopped in front of a large building that sort of looked like a warehouse.
It clearly hadn’t been a modern office building or house previously.
Other bikes were parked out in front of it.
Lights shone out of the windows, and loud music, laughter, and voices were audible, though the words were unintelligible.
After the bikes’ engines shut off, Eagle got himself off the bike and went to work freeing me from the belt.
Without it to keep me upright, I slid away from him.
“Whoa, no falling now,” he said as he caught me and held on to me.
Eagle lifted me from the bike as if I weighed nothing. Humiliation filled me. I hated to show weakness in front of anyone, especially my cousin. Not being in control of my body was shameful, even if it was outside my control.
“You don’t need to carry me. I can walk. Just set me down and let me get my balance,” I told him.
I saw his skeptical look, but he did it. His hand remained on me. I wobbled, but I didn’t fall. To buy time, I scanned the building in front of us. My mind felt fuzzy, and it was hard to concentrate, but I fought hard to clear it.
“Is this your clubhouse? What was this place before you moved in?”
“Yeah, it’s the clubhouse. As for what it was, this entire property was part of a recycling business. This building and a few others, along with the wall and gate, were already here when we bought it. Sure saved us a lot of money,” Chaos replied, rather than my cousin.
The other Pagans had gathered around us.
All of them wore concerned expressions. I tried not to focus on one more than the others, even if one had caught my attention even in my messed-up state.
I nodded to Chaos to show I heard him. I kept my gaze on Eagle.
I’d met him a few times before, when he was with Mishap, either when I visited or on a video call.
He seemed really nice, and I knew he and my cousin had grown close, along with a guy named Troublemaker.
“Come on, Bianca, you’re stalling. We need to let Pres know you’re here. If he’s not inside, the VP will do. Then, Stitch needs to check you out. After that, we’ll go from there,” Eagle stated.
“Don’t think because I’m in this state and I let Mishap boss me to get me here that I’ll allow more, Eagle,” I warned him.
He grinned as he responded. “I know how damn feisty and independent you are, Bianca. I’ll be noting this date down because I doubt I’ll see you submit again for years.”
I squinted at him, pointed, then snorted. “Stop trying to charm me. It doesn’t work. Alright, let’s get this over with. I want to sleep or puke. It’s a toss-up.”
With Mishap’s arm around me, Eagle stood on the opposite side, just not touching me.
We headed for the door. My gait wavered, and my legs felt like cooked noodles, but I stayed upright.
The one identified as Forge went ahead and opened the door.
As we entered, I heard people call out to Forge.
The sound I heard from outside doubled when they greeted him, but it died down when they noticed me and my two escorts.
Or maybe it lessened because they switched to whispering.
I was led to the nearest table, and a chair was pulled out for me.
Mishap pushed me gently down on the seat.
I was relieved to sit down. Two men detached themselves from the bar and came over to us.
As they got closer, I tried to read their names on their cuts, but my eyesight was wonky.
No matter how I strained or blinked, the blurriness remained.
“I got the message. I assume this is the cousin. Is she alright? What happened?” one of the guys asked. He sat without asking. The other one with him remained standing.
“Sorry I had to run off like that, Storm. Yeah, this is my cousin, Bianca. B, this is our VP, Storm, and the guy with him is Ryder, our enforcer,” my cousin explained.
I gave the two guys a brief nod. “Hello. Sorry for disrupting the party. I hadn’t intended to do that or to meet Mishap’s club this way.”
“No need to apologize. If you need help, you should always call family. As for meeting us this way, I have to say, I had no idea Mishap had family nearby,” Storm stated.
“Me either,” Ryder added.
“She didn’t move back to the area until six months ago. I’ve been trying to settle into being a patched member. Plus, she’s had a lot on her plate with the move. I wasn’t hiding her. I was waiting for a good time on both sides to introduce her,” Mishap defended.
“It’s no big deal. I wouldn’t want to interfere with his life,” I backed my cousin up.
“Bianca, you haven’t, nor could you, interfere with my life. I love you. I wasn’t trying to hide you, I swear,” Mishap protested.
I heard the distress in his voice. I patted his hand, then squeezed it.
“I know that. It has been a rough year.”
“We want Stitch to check her out. She thinks she was drugged. The way she’s been acting, I believe she was.” Chaos’s deep voice interjected, breaking the tension.
“It’s smart to have her blood tested to see what was used. I can draw and send it to a lab where I know someone who’ll run it. If she’s still having effects from the drug, then there’s a good chance it’s still in her system and can be identified,” another man who had wandered over said.
“That was our thought. Bianca, this is Stitch, our medic that I told you about.” Mishap introduced the guy.
“Hi. I do want to know for sure what was used. I know that I was dosed.”
“How many times have I reminded you never to let your drink be outside your view? To watch the bartender mix them?” my cousin growled.
“I lost count, but that didn’t happen. I—”
“Well, you had to have not paid attention, because look at you,” he snapped.
“Don’t take that tone with me! And don’t treat me like I’m an idiot. Let me repeat myself. I. Wasn’t. Drugged. By. A. Drink,” I snapped back, glaring at him.
Before Mishap could say anything back, Storm spoke.
“How do you know you weren’t? And I’m not trying to say you’re wrong.”